"a mind in the heart'' is the 3rd album (TRPTK 2026) by composer Ivan Vukosavljević, created in collaboration with the Portuguese pianist Joana Gama. Consisting of 8 movements, it is composed under the veil of sounds of sacred music from Ivan's homeland of Serbia. The album is immersed in the classical sound of the piano, the mystery of the Orthodox chant, the horizontal play of drone and melody, and the eternal presence of the sacred in music.
The piece is in part inspired by the Serbian Orthodox chant, its melodic attributes and development, the unmeasured and semi-improvisational performance practice and overall emotional and spiritual qualities of the music itself. And the way in which those attributes are explored through a completely foreign instrument to that practice - the piano. The horizontal world of melody and drone, is induced through the vertical environment of a harmonic instrument.
Concerts
23/10/2026
Venue TBA
Lisbon (PT)
13/09/2026
Venue TBA
Utrecht (NL)
12/12/2026
Venue TBA
Paris (FR)
13/03/2027
Venue TBA
The Hague (NL)
14/03/2027
Venue TBA
Amsterdam (NL)
04/10/2026
Venue TBA
Galicia (ESP)
04/02/2027
Venue TBA
Covilhã (PT)
Reviews & features
Joana Gama (Braga, 1983) is a Portuguese pianist whose work is being developed in connection with different forms of artistic expression. Fascinated by the idea of music that is almost silence, or music that invites contemplation, she has performed works by Erik Satie, John Cage, Federico Mompou and Hans Otte in recent years. In 2014 she started an
exploratory piano and electronics duo with Luís Fernandes, with whom she has released six albuns. Released and premiered in January 2026 at the Musical Utopias Festival in The Hague, “a mind in the heart”, a piano cycle composed by Ivan Vukosavljević, marks Joana Gama’s return to solo recording, after “Arcueil” (2019). Joana Gama’s eclectic discography
features on the Portuguese labels Shhpuma, mpmp, Pianola, Boca/Douda Correria and Holuzam, the Australian label Room40, TRTPK (Netherlands) and Grand Piano (Naxos Group).
